› Power of court to act on own motion under s 65C Civil Procedure Act 2010 (Vic)
Practice and procedure
› Costs
› Proportionality of costs to amount in dispute
Practice and procedure
› Security for costs
› Quantum and payment in tranches
Quick Take
1Section 65C(2)(d) of the Civil Procedure Act 2010 (Vic) empowers the Court to fix or cap recoverable costs in advance on its own motion; the absence of express words conferring power to act on the Court's own motion does not imply a limitation, given the breadth of s 65C(1) and the obligation under s 8(1) to further the overarching purpose.
2Where costs already incurred by individual parties exceed the amount in dispute and estimated future costs of one party are four times those of the others, the Court's obligation under s 9(1)(g) to deal with proceedings proportionately to the amount and complexity in dispute supports imposing a uniform cap on all parties' future recoverable costs.
3The factors in s 65C(2A) are not exhaustive and do not constitute a 'test'; the Court considers such of the enumerated matters as are relevant together with any other matters it considers relevant, guided by the overarching purpose in s 7(1).
